TCW 20: The Last Forgiveness
by The Great Allie
Summary: An old enemy returns, sort of, and Count Bleck has to come to terms with the one person he has never been able to forgive. Part 1 of 3.
1. 20 dash 1

The tension in that meeting was so thick it had its own presence in the room. Never before in Rogueport had a summit of such importance taken place. Three rival gangs, who had been warring on the streets of Rogueport and beyond, were finally burying the hatchet. For the past nine days the Pianta Syndicate, the Robbo Gang, and Count Bleck's minions had met in the inn, hammering out an agreement that would end the gang war and make life a bit easier for the citizens of that poor, crime-ridden port town.

Ever patient, Count Bleck had led the negotiation for days on end as they all set territory limits, agreed on ground rules, and sacrificed a little with the promise of gaining more than they had now. Neither had wanted to give an inch at first, but after hours and hours, days upon days, Count Bleck carefully worked out a treaty.

Finally it was finished. Count Bleck, Ishnail, and Frankie sat back around the table as Nastasia picked up the treaty. It was written in chicken scratch, re-written, crossed out and edited dozens of times on each of the many pages.

Nastasia cleared her throat, adjusted her glasses, and picked up the first sheet. "This agreement is between the three parties: The Pianta Syndicate, the Robbo Gang, and Count Bleck. This is to further the territory restrictions between the three parties. Point the first: the West Side is exclusively under the control of the Piantas, while the East is under control of the Robbos. In exchange for territory rights to the train station, the Piantas agree to give up the back alleys..."

Count Bleck pulled down the brim of his hat. Negotiations had been tough; even though Rogueport had nothing he wanted, he couldn't just give up everything at the drop of his white top hat. No, he'd had to make it seem like he actually had a stake in this. If they had known he wanted nothing, they would not have taken his concessions as anything valuable. But they thought he was a rival gang like them, and had believed that ever since he began on this Make-The-World-Better mission he and his minions had been working at for years now.

But was the world better? Count Bleck had been reading the pages of the Beige Prognosticus, the book where he wrote down the past to make guidance for the future, about the many missions he had sent his minions on. Some had been successful. Some had been failures. Most of them had been small scale. Rescuing a baby penguin. Returning the sky to the sky. Relationship counseling. Some had been big, but they were few and far between. And, of course, there were the good old-fashioned failures.

This, though, was something big. Ending gang wars in Rogueport would make a difference in not just the life of a mother and child, or an isolated village. It would make life better for an _entire_ _city._ A city... then maybe an entire dimension?

"Are there any questions at this time?"

Count Bleck was snapped out of his trance by Nastasia's voice as she set the document down.

"No, I got nuttin'," said Frankie.

"I'm good," said Ishnail. "Sounds like it's on the up-and-up."

"Very well. I suggest we break for the day. I'm going to re-copy this document into the final draft. Tomorrow we're going to meet here at the inn and sign it. Each of you will leave with a copy. And that will be it."

"Sounds good."

Frankie and Ishnail left the inn, giving each other the side-eye but not looking outwardly hostile. Count Bleck slumped further down in his chair, closing his eyes. "We did it," he murmured.

"Not quite," said Nastasia. "I wouldn't relax until the treaty is signed."

"What difference will that make? There's no built-in enforcement. Signing the document won't cinch anything. It's up to them to both agree that it's easier to make concessions and co-exist than it is to constantly be fighting."

"That's true," said Nastasia, "but they still might pull out of the deal-"

"If they pull out tonight or next week, it'll be the same; Rogueport is back to square one. I honestly believe both of them are as tired of the fighting as everyone else is."

"I hope you're right," said Nastasia.

Count Bleck stretched out his hands. "Count Bleck is hungry," he announced. "I'm going to find my wife and we'll find a classy establishment for dinner."

"You might have to leave the dimension for that," Nastasia remarked.

Count Bleck got up and began heading out himself. Nastasia followed closely behind him. "It feels good, though, doesn't it?" said Count Bleck.

"Accomplishing something like this? Yes, it does."

"Not just _something_ , Nastasia. Peace. Cooperation. Mutual understanding."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Don't you think? In five years time, what do you think Rogueport will be like if the gang war never starts up?"

"There will still be gangs. There will still be crime."

"Unless this is the first step to dismantling the establishment entirely."

Nastasia regarded him curiously. "You don't really think..."

"Count Bleck has many ideas about how this may go. And perhaps he can think of several ways to quietly reach his hand in and give fate a little push..."

They opened the door, and Count Bleck collided with a figure who was just pushing the door open to come in.

"Pardon me!"

"'Ey, watch where yer goin'!"

Count Bleck straightened his hat and dusted off his cape as he moved aside. "After you, of course."

"Huh. How noble of you."

Count Bleck blinked, as he for the first time focused on the figure he had hit. It was a red-shelled Koopa with black triangle shades, not too different from every other red-shelled bad koopa. But Count Bleck recognized that voice all too well.

"K. Man Koopa," said Count Bleck in his even, diplomatic tone. He almost said something to the extent of, "Nice to see you again," but remembering their last encounter he thought the better of it.

"Count _Bleck_ ," said K. Man. "Never thought I'd see your ugly mug again."

They stared at each other, neither one of them sure what the next move in this case should be. Given that during their last encounter, K. Man had had his Magikoopa friend brainwash Count Bleck into being their amnesiac slave as punishment for trying to destroy all of existence, there wasn't a lot of precedent in how a reunion between two people in their positions should go.

At last, K. Man spoke: "Heard you're putting an end to the gangs fightin' each other in Rogueport. Settin' up some neutral territory, too."

Count Bleck nodded. "Yes. It's part of my attempt to drastically reduce the overall crime rate in this city."

There was another uncomfortable pause. Nastasia glanced between the two, wondering if she should intervene, but holding back.

"You know that doesn't change a thing," said K. Man at last. "You're scum. You've always been scum, and you'll always be scum, because only scum is capable of doing what you did, and once you're scum you can never come back from that."

Voice tight, Count Bleck replied, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Satisfied, K. Man turned and went up to the bar. Count Bleck passed through the doorway, trembling.

Once they were outside, Count Bleck ducked into the alley behind the main square. "That was absolutely uncalled for," said Nastasia as she trailed him. "You want me to go back there and brainwash him? I can pencil that in for right now..."

"No." Count Bleck's voice cracked. "It wouldn't be right."

"Count Bleck...?" Nastasia quickened her step until she was beside him. Count Bleck stopped and put his hand against the wall, leaning into it and covering his face with his other hand. "Count? Are you...? Look, you shouldn't let him get to you like that."

"I know, and... I usually don't... but Count Bleck..." Count Bleck sounded a bit like he was out of breath. "I'm sorry, but I thought accomplishing something like this might get rid of it."

"Get rid of what?"

"The belief that he's right."

Nastasia looked quickly up at Count Bleck. "He's not right. You know that."

"It doesn't feel that way," said Count Bleck. "Nastasia, what he just said is what I try every day not to tell myself. And I fail." Count Bleck looked at her. It was clear he was trying his hardest not to cry. "Do you know how hard it is to live knowing you did what I did? For the reasons you did it?"

"Yeah, but..."

"I know Mimi tells herself it isn't her fault, that she was obeying my command and she trusted me. O'Chunks, too. So now I have to have that guilt on top of me, too, knowing I manipulated two trusting people into my warped evil. Nastasia..."

He looked away from her. "Nastasia, I knew you were in love with me. The whole time. And I used you because of that. I knew you would do anything for me, and I _used you_."

He started to walk away from her. Nastasia grabbed his cape. "I know. I always knew."

Count Bleck turned around. "Pardon?"

"I knew you were using me. I didn't care. I wanted to be used because then I would be close to you. So you didn't exactly lead me on."

They stared at each other. Count Bleck seemed momentarily stunned by the confession, unable to pick up where he had been.

"Count, I know it's hard. But you're doing so much good because of it. Don't forget that."

"I don't know what to do, Nastasia. It's been years and I still feel like I'm being smothered. I'm being crushed by unyielding guilt. I look into the future, and all I see is an existence where every moment of the day I'm suffocating and... it terrifies me. I don't know how I'm going to face a future like that."

"Yeah, so it sounds like you're having a panic attack right now," said Nastasia. "Let's do some deep breathing exercises, K? See how we feel after that."

Count Bleck looked down at the one gloved hand that wasn't holding his cane, and it was shaking. "I think you may be right," he said. "All right. Deep breaths." He steadied himself with a few until his hand stopped trembling.

"Come with me back to the castle," said Nastasia.

Count Bleck gently tugged his cape out of her hands. "I can't right now. I'm sorry. I just need to- I'm sorry, I -" and then he tripped.

Neither Count Bleck nor Nastasia saw there was anything where he was heading until he had already toppled over and went sprawling in the alley. Now, though, they saw an old pile of rags had been heaped against the wall with a hunk of cardboard.

"My next act will be to get the litter in this town cleaned up," Count Bleck groused as he scooped up the rags.

The rags yelped.

Count Bleck dropped them quickly, moving his hands up and letting them in the ground. "Oh, ow, jeeze, yeah, that feels good, dropping me like that..."

Another familiar voice, this one low and gravelly. Count Bleck's eyes jumped over to the cardboard, which was inscribed with _Will Poshe 4 Snax_. Then he watched the rags as a large, green snout poked out, followed by two dinner-plate eyes and a big green ponytail made of leaves.

"NAWROCKI?!"

Nastasia immediately went for her glasses, leaning her weight forward on her right foot and ready to jump in front of the Count should the monster make any sudden movements. Count Bleck, however, knelt down to get a better look at the sad little plant man.

"Nawrocki?" Count Bleck asked again, a bit more gently.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." He looked at Count Bleck. "And I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are, but if I owe you money I have none and if I owe you an apology, you'll have to tell me what it's for first."

"You took over my castle and made Machine Mades so you could take over the world like your idol Smithy."

Nawrocki stared at Count Bleck as if he were crazy, until a minute later when realization dawned and he grinned. "Oh, yeah. I remember. Good times."

"Not for me."

"Well. I never did jail time, since I was in your jurisdiction so it's your job to punish me for what I did. I assume you want revenge. Here I am." He spread his leaves out. "Just make it quick. I bore easily."

"You seem entirely too calm about this," said Count Bleck.

"What are you gonna do? Kill me? At this point it wouldn't even be a punishment; it would be a mercy. Here, let me get you started." Nawrocki grabbed one of the Count's gloves and put it on the base of his ponytail. He took Count Bleck's other hand and guided it to his stalk, right at the base of his head and above the two red felt stripes he wore around his neck. "Twist the ponytail in one direction and the stalk in the opposite direction. Like you're opening up a soda bottle. I _really_ hate that."

"If you hate it then why did you-"

"Because I'm far beyond the point of caring about anything," said Nawrocki. "Look at me. I live in an alley in a trash kingdom. I sell crummy magic potions in exchange for _and made out of_ crusts of bread. I have _nothing_ except this blanket and this cardboard _._ I don't have a single coin to my name. I have _nobody_ who would be mad at you. Remember that cool magic knife I escaped your castle with? I sold it for food money. That money's long spent, eaten, and expelled."

"I thought plants ate sunlight."

"I'm a _carnivorous_ plant. I need sunlight and meat to survive."

Count Bleck dropped Nawrocki. "It seems there's nothing Count Bleck can do to you that life has not done already."

"You're telling me," said Nawrocki. "And don't give me that look. The last thing I need is a visit from the Pity Committee."

Count Bleck looked away quickly, and then back with his usual expression.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," said Nawrocki, "but we had some business going on between us before I absconded."

"We sent it to Merlon," said Nastasia, "to see if there was anything he could do with it. Unfortunately, he hasn't as of yet been able to figure out what ingredients he's missing."

"He probably won't think of it," said Nawrocki. "It's a very unconventional ingredient that's difficult to procure; and as you can see, I have no stock."

"What is it?"

"Tell you later," said Nawrocki. "I just wanted you to know, I haven't forgotten. I'm just a little..." he waved his leaves around him, gesturing to his current station. "So. If there's nothing else, I have a very busy schedule ahead of me. I've got to hold this sign and hassle passers-by for the rest of the... year, I guess? So are you going to punish me for what I did or just let me continue living as a sad little hobo? Because at this point I'd welcome three squares and a cot if that's what your dungeon accommodations include."

Count Bleck turned away. "Come, Nastasia. Let's go back to the castle."

Nastasia glanced from Count Bleck to Nawrocki and back again. "Um... are you sure?"

"Completely." Count Bleck held his arm out and disappeared. Nastasia gave Nawrocki a warning glance, and followed.

Nawrocki reached into his ponytail and pulled out a few stray kernels of popcorn, which he munched on, a thoughtful expression across his snout.


	2. 20 dash 2

"So you're just going to leave him there?" Nastasia was asking as Count Bleck approached the castle.

"Absolutely. He can do no harm."

"I mean... you're not going to try...?" She trailed off as she opened the door to the castle.

"You want to know if I'm going to even bother trying to make a friend out of an old enemy, don't you?"

Nastasia's blue face got the slightest tinge of red.

"I might have. If he had shown any sign of remorse, I would have considered it. But he didn't. He doesn't care, and all he's going to do is continue to hurt everyone around him in his downward spiral."

"Count, this isn't like you-"

"Nastasia, let me make something clear." Count Bleck's voice was stony as he pulled his hat down. "What Nawrocki did to us, what he planned to do to everyone, was _un_ forgivable."

"Count... it wasn't any worse than what you did."

Count Bleck held his gloved hand up, flat and palm down, in front of him. "There's a line, Nastasia. Once you cross that line, you're never going back."

"You didn't even hesitate to forgive Glitter Sue back in the desert," said Nastasia. "What she did was reprehensible but you didn't care. You forgive everybody. Remember Chuck Quizmo's torture show? You didn't even hesitate. You even forgave Dimentio." She paused. "You did forgive him, didn't you?"

"This conversation is over."

"But Count-"

" _This conversation is over, Nastasia._ " Count Bleck turned around and stalked away towards his study.

Nastasia pulled out her Mailbox SP and sent a quick message to Tippi: _Yeah, so just an FYI? Your husband is going through some serious emotional turmoil. So if you could put dealing with that on the top of your to-do list, that would be super._

* * *

As it turned out, Count Bleck wouldn't even talk to his wife about it. He gave her the run-down of what happened at and after the meeting, as well as his explanation of why he reacted the way he did, and then he shut down. He refused to say anything more about not only the subject matter, but anything.

Tippi stayed with him, though. Whatever he was going through, she would wait until she was able to reach him. Count Bleck did not comment on her remaining in the room with him, but he did seem slightly less tense when she was close to him. He sat, his face buried in some old, musty tome of ancient magic that he kept around for research purposes, but it was clear it was just for show and he wasn't really reading.

At around one in the morning, when Tippi was sleeping on top of his hat, there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," said Count Bleck, loud enough to be heard through the door but not one fraction of a decibel louder so as not to disturb his sleeping wife.

The door opened a crack and O'Chunks stuck his head in. "Eh... Count? There's somethin' yeh should probably be aware of..."

"Yes?"

"So... eh, remember that green fella a while back that tried to give us a good chunking with 'is robots?"

"Yes."

"... Well, 'e's outside right now."

"I see. And what is he doing?"

"Nothing. Just starin' and chewin' on something."

Count Bleck did not respond.

"Want me to chunk 'im?"

"If that pleases you."

O'Chunks waited for further instructions, but when there were none he quietly closed the door. He had not heard about the Count's recent breakdown, so he had no frame of reference for why the Count was so unimpressed. He felt it was his duty to keep an eye on the situation, so he went outside to where Nawrocki was planted, near a dead white bush, with a small bag of popcorn.

"Hey, he's back!" Nawrocki called, waving, with a big grin.

"And what's that yeh be chunkin' on?" asked O'Chunks.

"Is it always chunks with you?" Nawrocki tilted the bag towards O'Chunks so he could see for himself. "Want one?"

O'Chunks reached up to the bag, but stopped when he realized his fist was twice as big as the bag. Instead, he held his palm open and Nawrocki tipped a fair portion of kernels into his hand. O'Chunks inspected them very carefully before trying one.

"I like you, Blow Chunks," said Nawrocki. "You've got a good head directly on your shoulders without aid of a neck."

"Now, see, it sounds like yer insultin' me," said O'Chunks. "Me beard twitches whenever a friendly tone don't seem sincere."

Nawrocki chuckled and tossed a kernel into his mouth. "Oh, you've got me."

"What business d'yeh have here at the castle o' me Count?"

"Oh, I'm just here to watch the show," said Nawrocki. "I don't know how long the wait will be, but I don't want to miss it." He held the bag open and held it to his eye. "Huh. I think I'm gonna need more snackies." He looked up. "Y'all got any popcorn in there or no?"

"Yeh wouldn't be plannin' on threatening th' Count, would yeh?"

"Heavens, no," said Nawrocki. "I promise, noble O'Chunks, you and yours already won that fight."

"Didn't yeh go on about swearin' an undying oath of revenge on us or something?"

"That doesn't sound like something I'd do," said Nawrocki.

"Oh... I could've sworn-"

"I hate revenge," said Nawrocki. "You think it'll make you feel better, but you just feel empty. If someone takes something from you, be it world domination or... a loved one, and you take your revenge on them... well, it doesn't bring back what you lost. Thumping Count Bleck won't bring back my factory."

"It don't bring back the soldiers yeh lost, either," said O'Chunks.

Nawrocki nodded. "It's late. Why don't you go inside and get some sleep?"

"How can I be sure this ehn't a put-on? That yer plannin' on me catchin' winks before yeh put yer fiendish plan into action?"

"Because there's no sunlight in here," said Nawrocki. "Remember how I'm a plant? I eat sunlight to gain power?"

"It takes more'n a day fer yeh to lose yer power, don't it?"

"Yes, but I'm poor and homeless now. I don't have a reserve. I can only stay here for maybe three days before I'm too weak and pathetic to leave. If I do anything unseemly, that time gets cut drastically."

O'Chunks watched him warily, but all Nawrocki did was smile and eat popcorn. O'Chunks went back to the castle, and though he lay awake for a while wondering what this was all leading up to.


	3. 20 dash 3

The next morning, Nawrocki was still sitting outside the castle, planted in the ground, watching silently. He had run out of popcorn sometime during the night and switched to peanuts. This was evidenced by a ring of shells and skins littered around his stalk. The peanuts were also finished, and now he just watched quietly, consuming nothing.

By now, the castle was well aware both of Nawrocki's presence and the Count's mental state. They also had the presence of mind to connect the two.

"Just yank 'im outta the ground and throw him off a cliff," said Mimi to O'Chunks over breakfast.

"Was gonna last night," replied O'Chunks, "but he ehn't doin' anything."

"He's upsetting the Count," Mimi said. "Isn't that enough?"

Always knowing just when to enter, Dimentio floated into the room as Mimi spoke. "It isn't merely his presence that's upsetting the Count," he observed as he went to the cabinet and pulled out his favorite cereal. "He's far too inoffensive for that. Something else is bothering our beloved Bleck, though I would like to know what it is."

"I talked to 'im. He just gave me a bunch o' riddles."

"Well, perhaps someone with a bit more cerebral power should try an inquiry." Dimentio poured his bowl.

"Eh?" O'Chunks scratched the top of his head.

"He called you a dummy," Mimi translated.

Dimentio stuffed a spoonful of dry cereal in his mouth so he would have an excuse not to answer.

"Hey!" O'Chunks grabbed the table as if to flip it onto Dimentio, but composed himself at the last second, much to Mimi and Dimentio's relief.

"Still," Dimentio mused, mouth full. He held up two fingers and swallowed. "Still, one of us should endeavor to ascertain the purpose of his stakeout." He set his spoon down and pushed back from the table. "And as the most intelligent member of our triad, I-"

Mimi grabbed his cloak and pulled him back. "No."

"But certainly you want to send the most eloquent-"

"No."

"Surely my unique perspective-"

" _No_."

Dimentio crossed his arms. "Then what do you suggest?"

"I'm going," said Mimi.

"Very well." Dimentio had an amused smirk. "This, I've got to see."

O'Chunks came around the table quickly and grabbed Dimentio with both meaty fists. "Oh, no, yer not."

"Why does no one trust me? What are you even afraid I'll do?"

"We never know what you'll do," said Mimi. "That's why we're afraid. And I _know_ you're using big words on purpose to try and slip stuff by us."

"Are we not past this, yet?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure we'll ever be completely past this."

"... Fair enough."

O'Chunks took Dimentio elsewhere in the castle to keep an eye on him while Mimi went to change into her best Bad Guy Confrontation Outfit. Forty minutes later, she approached him outside. The little peanut shells crunched under her stick feet as she came close to him. Nawrocki regarded her curiously, nodding in greeting.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as accusingly as she could manage.

"Talking with the most beautiful young lady in the entire dimension, apparently," said Nawrocki.

Mimi's faced flushed. "Flattery won't get you anywhere! You're upsetting the Count!"

"I'm not. He was upset before our encounter. I'm just watching it unfold."

"That sounds mean."

"Well, I'm not nice."

" _I'm_ not nice!"

Nawrocki laughed. Then he reached behind his head and pulled out his red hair tie. Next he pulled off one of his red neckbands.

Mimi tilted her head curiously,

Nawrocki fluffed his ponytail leaves down until they hung flat behind him. Then he ran his leafy fingers down from the center of his nose, between his eyes, and up to his leaf hair, where he carefully divided the hair into two sections. Then he pulled the sections up into pigtails, tying them in place with his old elastic and the neck band.

As soon as Mimi saw what he was doing, she squealed and clapped her hands. "Twins!"

"We're a lot alike, you and I, in ways I haven't told you about."

"You mean besides just not being nice?"

"I mean that we're both cast-away creations of someone we'll never know trying to make sense of what we're supposed to be."

"I know what I'm supposed to be," said Mimi. "The adorable and fashionable shape-shifting minion of Count Bleck."

Nawrocki smiled. "You're lucky; you had someone who eventually showed you your potential. I never had that."

"You still could," said Mimi.

Nawrocki shook his head. "No. It's far too late for me to be anything other than what I am."

"That's not what Count Bleck told me."

"Count Bleck saw something in you."

"Nobody ever saw something in you?"

"Sure. Lots of people did. Or, they thought they did..." He glanced away before turning back with a phony, plastered-on smile. "Mimi? Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"How did you feel when you found out the Count lied to you?"

"What? When did he lie to me?"

"When you found out he never intended to build the perfect world, that he planned to just obliterate them all."

Mimi looked away. "Gosh... I don't really think about that."

"Were you mad?"

"Kinda..."

"But you stayed with him."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because... because he's the Count." That was all Mimi had. And, despite Nawrocki's questioning, her resolve wasn't shaken. It was enough.

"You trust him with your life."

"Uh-huh."

"I admire you."

"G'wan."

"No, I mean it."

"What are you trying to pull, huh?"

"I just want to understand."

"Understand what?"

Nawrocki waved his leaves. "This. All of this. You. O'Chunks. Dimentio. Nastasia."

Mimi reached out and gave Nawrocki's snout a little pat. "I get the feeling that somebody's waiting for you."

Nawrocki looked away, and stayed looking away this time. "Yeah."

"Are you gonna go, then?"

"I can't."

Mimi nodded. "I think I understand you, now."

"I'm glad one of us does."

* * *

When Mimi came back into the castle. O'Chunks and Dimentio were waiting for her by the door. Dimentio was still trapped in O'Chunk's grip. O'Chunks had his arms wrapped tightly, pinning Dimentio to his chest. Dimentio seemed unfazed by this.

"How'd it go, eh?" asked O'Chunks as soon as Mimi came in.

"Actually," said Mimi, "I understand him a little better."

"Really? What did you find out?" asked Dimentio.

"He's lonely. He does bad stuff because he wants power, but he only thinks that's what he wants. What he really wants is to not be lonely anymore."

"Really? He told you all that?"

"I figured it out."

"How?" Dimentio sounded incredulous.

Mimi shot him a glare. "I'm not a big dummy, Dimentio. I can tell when somebody's sad and lonely. Count Bleck is really sad right now and Nawrocki is, too. He's not here because he's mad. He's here because he's sad."

"So what's he gonna do about it?" asked O'Chunks.

"I believe it's not what he will do," said Dimentio. "Rather, it's what the Count will do."


	4. 20 dash 4

Count Bleck pushed the curtains back. He had been watching Nawrocki through the window of one of the front rooms until Mimi went back inside. Now he floated away from the window, scowling deeply. "He has got to go." It was the first thing Count Bleck had said all day.

"Who does?" Tippi was sitting on a decorative pedestal against the wall. Many pedestals in Count Bleck no longer held decorations, instead providing a flat space for Tippi to rest while still being somewhat level with everyone else.

"Nawrocki."

"I see."

"He's talking to my minions."

"He's allowed."

"He's in _my_ dimension. He has a lot of nerve being in _my dimension_ after everything he pulled."

"He apologized."

"And that makes everything alright?"

"No. But it means he isn't a hostile threat."

"I'm going to talk to him."

"I think you should."

"I'm going."

"There's the door."

Count Bleck left the room, leaving the door ajar behind him. Tippi counted to thirty before following closely behind.

* * *

Outside, Nawrocki had settled into the ground and had rested his chin in the black dirt, only to jerk right back up the moment Count Bleck threw his doors open. "Nawrocki."

Nawrocki smiled. "Eyyyy, Count Bleck! Salut! Ça va bien?"

"Don't take that familiar tone with me."

"Désolée."

"Why did you follow me here?"

"Because I have a vested interest in your mental state."

"You need to leave."

"I won't."

Count Bleck threw his cape out and pointed away with his cane. "You need. To leave."

"It's a free dimension."

"It absolutely is not!"

"You'll have to force me out, then."

"Do you think I won't?!"

"Why are you so angry?"

"Why am I angry? Because you threw my minions and I in a dungeon, you enslaved us, you built foul machines, you attacked us with a giant plant, you left a gaping dimensional hole in our castle, and you _never finished my wife's potion!_ "

"I apologize," said Nawrocki, his voice firm but not angry. "I was wrong. That was wrong of me. I was lashing out, and I hurt you. That's not who I want to be anymore. I'd undo it in a heartbeat if I could."

"But you can't. You can't, and you have to live with it!"

"Like you do."

"Yes! You can't take it away! There are some things that are completely unforgivable. That no matter how hard you try or how much you want it, they can't be forgiven. That's it. End of the line. The moral event horizon. Point of no return."

"Ahhhh." Nawrocki nodded. "I see."

"Thank you."

"This isn't about me."

"What? Yes! Yes, it is!"

"No." Nawrocki shook his head. "This isn't about me, and it isn't about you, either."

"Then who is it about?!"

"It's about your father."

This line caught Count Bleck so off guard he was momentarily stunned. All he could do was stand there and gape at Nawrocki. "My father?" Count Bleck's voice was much more even, though still pained. He was no longer yelling, in any case. "What does my father have to do with anything?"

"Your father took the woman you loved away from you, cursed her, and turned you both into what you are today. You can't forgive him for what he's done to you. But you know, deep down inside, that what you did was worse than what he did. So you can't forgive yourself, because you can't forgive him."

"That's not..." But Count Bleck couldn't finish.

"It is, though."

Count Bleck sat down. Nawrocki pulled his roots out of the ground and walked over to Count Bleck. He put his leaf arm around the Count's shoulders.

"Well?" asked Nawrocki gently.

Count Bleck slowly shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'd wager you haven't spoken of it in years."

"To be honest... I've _never_ spoken of it."

"Well, you should." He turned Count Bleck's shoulders a little so that he was facing the castle. "With someone who loves you."

Tippi was hovering behind them, about halfway between them and the castle. "Hello, Blumiere," she said softly.

Count Bleck stood up. They quickly crossed the distance between them and Count Bleck embraced her.

"You never told me in words how you felt about what your father did," said Tippi.

"I tried my hardest not to think of it... It's just too painful. I thought if I erased my heritage from existence, that would erase my pain as well."

"But it didn't."

"No." Count Bleck pulled down the brim of his hat. "It's been festering for years. I try so hard to do good so I don't have to think about what I did... but I suppose it's not what I did that's causing the problem."

"Blumiere, you have to forgive your father."

"If I could, don't you think I would have?"

"Well, have you _tried_?"

Count Bleck didn't answer.

"Hm." That was Nawrocki

Count Bleck turned around and both he and Tippi stared at him.

"Don't mind me," said Nawrocki. "I was just thinking..."

"Are you sure you don't want to elbow into our private conversation?" asked Count Bleck.

"No. I'm feeding off your drama. It sustains me."

"Just ignore him," said Tippi.

"It's not something I can do overnight, continued Count Bleck as if he had not been interrupted."

"We can start by talking."

"Not here," said Count Bleck. "Tonight. After dinner."

"Aw." Nawrocki pouted.

Count Bleck turned around and went back to Nawrocki. He knelt down in front of the plant. "Thank you," said Count Bleck. "I suppose I needed that."

"Ain't no thing." Nawrocki stood up. "I mean, I guess this doesn't exactly make up for what I did, but... uh, maybe it's a start? Well, my work here is done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dirty alley to get back to."

"You truly have nowhere to go?"

"No," said Nawrocki. "I'm no longer welcome anywhere good."

Count Bleck heard a tiny cough. He turned around and looked around, but all he saw was Tippi, the castle landscape, and the chain chomp guards.

Count Bleck frowned. "Mimi?"

One of the chain chomps immediately turned into Mimi. "Aw, how'd you guess?"

"I've never heard a chomp cough so delicately," said Count Bleck. "It sounds like you were trying not to say something?"

Mimi pointed. " _He's_ trying not to say something."

"What?" Nawrocki stiffened.

"You're in love!"

"What?" Count Bleck turned around quickly to face Nawrocki, while Tippi stifled a laugh. Nawrocki's face flushed hot and he looked down for a moment.

"I can tell by the way you talk. You're in love with someone you can't be with. That's why you do bad stuff."

"Is this true?" asked Count Bleck.

"Not- not exactly," said Nawrocki, holding up his hands. "She's a bit of a romantic, isn't she... I'm not _in love_. I just love her. It's not romance. It's devotion."

"So... you love someone, and you can't be with this person?"

"No. She... no."

"... She won't have you?"

"She's better off without me."

"Better off without someone in her life who loves her more than anything else?"

"I would just ruin her life. It's not like I was a saint before I went off the deep end and started worshipping Smithy."

"So you left her for what you presume is her own good."

"It's for the best."

"Does she love you as well?"

"What? Uh, I guess? I never really asked."

Count Bleck picked up Nawrocki, his gloves under Nawrocki's arms. "You must go to her."

"What?"

"Listen to me. You _must_. You love her."

"Uh... didn't you hear me? Haven't you _met_ me? It's for the best if I stay away."

"Did you ask her how she felt about you leaving?"

"Of course not! She would ask me to stay!"

"So you'd rather she be miserable."

"What? No! That's-"

"Go to her, Nawrocki."

"I- I can't."

Count Bleck fixed his gaze right into Nawrocki, staring at him with such intensity that it made Nawrocki quiver. "Go to her."

"My husband has a _thing_ for people being with the one they love," said Tippi.

"I..." Nawrocki looked over Count Bleck's shoulder at Mimi and Tippi. Mimi shrugged.

Nawrocki sighed. "Only if you'll come with me."

"I would be honored to escort you."

* * *

Soon they found themselves in Toad Town square, hiding in one of the bushes outside the gate to Peach's castle. All four of them were trying their hardest to hide in such a cramped space, on Nawrocki's insistence.

"Get your hat down," Nawrocki hissed. "She'll see you!"

Count Bleck put his hand on top of his hat and ducked as low as he could.

"Mimi, turn into something inconspicuous," Nawrocki said.

"Got it." With a poof, Mimi transformed into a glittering amazy dayzee.

" _IN_ conspicuous, you dotty dolt!"

Mimi giggled. "Just teasing ya!" With another poof, she turned into a plain old bub-ulber.

"Besides," Nawrocki grumbled, "I don't know that she'll even show up. I mean, she used to come by here every day, but that was years ago. For all I know she doesn't even live here."

"What are we looking for?" whispered Tippi.

"I'll know it when I see it."

They finally settled in to wait. Count Bleck watched an ordinary red-spotted toad come into the post office. Another toad went to the badge shop to browse. Two young girl toads came to visit the garden. Nawrocki watched them all with indifference.

Then another toad came that made Nawrocki tense up all over. To the others, she didn't seem much different from any other toad. She had blue spots and brown pigtails, and she was wearing a pink pinafore over a white jumper. They saw her just as she exited the post office and began walking west towards the house with the spinning roof.

"Is that her?" asked Count Bleck.

Nawrocki nodded.

Count Bleck nudged him.

Nawrocki took a deep breath, and then popped out from the bush. "Hey! So, uh... Hi."

The toad woman looked at him, first with her brow furrowed, and then with her eyes wide open in amazement. "Nawrocki?"

"Yeah... it's me."

There was no hesitation. She ran as fast as she could to the bush and grabbed him in the biggest hug imaginable. She spun around three times before letting go and looking at him in awe. "You came back!"

"Well... yeah?" He looked her up and down. "You've grown up."

"You changed your hair."

"What?" Nawrocki's hands went up to his pigtails. "Oh! Forgot I... yeah, I was just trying to make someone smile. I still wear it the same most of the time."

"You're still such a sweetheart."

"Your memory seems to be a bit fuzzy."

"It's called sarcasm. You never said goodbye, you know. After all these years, I was beginning to think you were just my imaginary friend."

"I guess I thought..." he mumbled something that Count Bleck couldn't hear, but the toad woman apparently did.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Tippi asked politely.

Nawrocki turned around and saw Count Bleck, Tippi, and regular Mimi standing in front of the bush. "Oh! Yeah. Uh, so this is the famous Count Bleck, and his wife Tippi, and Mimi."

"I read about them all the time on the newsboard," said the toad woman.

"Everyone, this is my best friend in the whole world, Morala T."

Count Bleck extended a glove. "A pleasure to meet you, Morala. You're a friend of Nawrocki?"

"When I was a little girl, he was my only friend," Morala replied.

"You were kids together?" asked Tippi.

Nawrocki shook his head. "I'm _much_ older than she is."

"It's quite unseemly," agreed Morala. She turned to Nawrocki. "I have a family now, you know. A husband and two kids of my own."

"Really?" He looked surprised. Then he started counting on his fingers. "I guess it has been a while."

"Why did you leave?"

"Because I was a bad influence on you and I was keeping you from making other friends."

"What? No, you weren't."

"Remember the field trip incident?"

"You're taking too much credit. If I recall correctly, at least half of our trouble-making capers were _my_ idea."

"I did keep you from making other friends, though."

"Well... it was easier to be friends with you than to go out and make more. I have trouble connecting with other people. I always have. After you left I spent years in therapy learning how to make friends. I'm still bad at it. You didn't keep me from making friends; you reached out to me when no one else could or would. You're the only person to ever meet me halfway on this... well, you and then Ness."

"Ness?"

"Ness T. My husband. You'll have to meet him."

"So what, just like that? You're going to welcome me back into your life?"

"I've been waiting for this day. I knew you'd come back."

"Look, uh... I need to tell you. I've kinda been up to some stuff since I saw you last..."

"You mean that time you tried taking over the world?"

Nawrocki coughed.

"Yeah, I saw that on the newsboard, too. That wasn't cool."

"That's putting it mildly."

"But I don't know, I hear about that stuff and I think... I don't feel like I don't wanna be your friend anymore. I feel like maybe you can do better than that, and I can be there for you. You know?"

Count Bleck smiled. Nawrocki looked helplessly back at him.

"You're where you belong," said Count Bleck.

"You don't understand," said Nawrocki. "I'm going to do bad things. I don't plan it. I just always end up doing this. I care about people, and I hurt them, and I ruin everything."

"I'm an adult now," said Morala. "If you try to take over the world now, I'm gonna call Mario- or Count Bleck- and have them punch you in the face for me. And then I'll come visit you in jail. We'll play cards."

Nawrocki looked at Morala. "You're really going to take me back?"

"Of course. I still love you."

Nawrocki reached up and rubbed the top of her head. "Well... I love you, too."

"We should be going," said Count Bleck. He prepared to teleport out.

"Wait!" Nawrocki suddenly broke away from Morala. "Before you go! The ingredient Merlon is missing!"

"Oh! Yes!" Count Bleck stopped immediately. "You were going to tell me. It's hard to come by?"

"Yeah," said Nawrocki. "It's a whacka's bump."

"Pardon?"

"A whacka's bump." Nawrocki turned back to Morala. "Okay, bye!"

Count Bleck watched them go off together into Toad Town until he could no longer see them between the buildings.

"A whacka's bump?" asked Mimi.

"I'll worry about that later," said Count Bleck. "For now I just... want to enjoy this."

Tippi rested on her husband's hat. "Me, too," she said.


End file.
